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| Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar M. Chaudhary |
Pakistan's top Spy Agency, The ISI briefed a five-member bench of the Supreme Court hearing the suo motu case on the Karachi violence on Thursday. During the briefing, the Attorney General was asked to leave. The in-camera briefing was held at conference room of the SC Karachi Registry. The ISI showed a presentation to the Supreme Court which contained video footage and maps of different areas. The reports of the Joint Investigation Team were also discussed. Earlier during proceedings, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said it were situations like the one in Karachi that led to military takeovers, but now this way has been closed.
The Supreme Court was not happy with the “one-sided” arguments being presented by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) counsel Farogh A Naseem. The Chief Justice asked why the MQM had not presented a list of other innocent people killed in Karachi and why only the list of some particular party workers and supporters had been presented. The Chief Justice in his remarks asked Naseem to propose a method by which agencies could conduct investigation free of political influence. The CJ was also critical of statements made by Rangers DG on Wednesday in which he had said that the Rangers would establish peace. The Chief Justice said despite the claim of Rangers DG, recovery of dead bodies has not yet been ended in the metropolitan. The MQM counsel accused the Awami National Party (ANP) and Lyari gang members of involvement in incidents of kidnappings and killings. The Chief Justice asked whether the names of ANP members accused of target killings were mentioned in the FIRs.
Naseem said more than 36 people had been killed and their homes torched in Pashtun-dominated areas on August 13. He argued that the MQM had pointed out 26 points in the city where there was a dire need of setting up checkposts. The MQM counsel also requested the court to review Zulfiqar Mirza’s statement in which he claimed to have issued 300,000 arms licences. Naseem said the innocent people were being killed in the city while the security agencies were totally quiet on the situation. He added the local land and weapon mafias murdered dozens of people on July 6 and 7. Fourteen more innocent bus passengers were taken out of the bus and all were made target of indiscriminate firing while dozens of Urdu-speaking people were kidnapped and murdered near Katti Pahari and Qasba Colony. Naseem continued, saying on July 22, the terrorists of MQM-Haqqiqi and peace committee murdered many citizens in Malir but no action was taken against any murderer.
Also during proceedings, Sindh Advocate General (AG) Abdul Fatah Malik told the court that the reports of intelligence agencies regarding 1992 operation were missing from the record. The AG told the bench that only the crime record of that period was available. The SC had sought the report on a point raised by senior Advocate Syed Iqbal Haider, who is representing the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The bench also sought investigation reports of killing of KESC legal advisor Faheemul Kareem and a policeman who was shot dead in Malir on Wednesday.
( The Nation )
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